“Hello, Raylan.”
As soon as those words emerged from the dark room Raylan had just been tossed into, it was hard to hold back the excitement of knowing that ‘Kin‘, the fifth episode of this season of Justified, was finally giving faithful viewers what they wanted; Raylan and Boyd sharing the screen. The wait was assuredly worth it.
That’s not to say that everything leading up to the reunion of Harlan County’s two favorite sons has been nothing but wheel turning waiting to get here. In fact, it’s downright commendable that the writers took their time building these characters’ season arcs and finding an organic way for the pair to come together. A lesser show would have had them together from the season opener and never looked back. Granted, that would still be one hell of a show, but there’s a richness and restraint on display by taking a few episodes to build up these character’s arcs away from each other. Raylan has been distracted by his lady troubles and oncoming fatherhood whilst Boyd was caught up in the struggles of being a crime lord and making power plays with the snake handlers. Now both men are on the same path for their own selfish reasons, and that path is finding Drew Thompson.
As far as ‘Kin’ goes, it definitely falls into the grand definition of a set-up episode. Yet, with such a rich writing staff and cavalcade of regular and guest actors, Justified’s set-up episodes are often its strongest. ‘Kin’ is chock full of familiar faces and terrifying new ones and, most importantly, moves the Drew Thompson mystery into its next logical step.
Thanks to that dirty FBI guy that killed himself in front of Raylan, the Marshall’s have successfully reacquired the Drew Thompson case, much to the chagrin of FBI Agent Barkley (Stephen Toblowsky). Arlo is using whatever knowledge he has about where Drew Thompson might be located to get a “Get Out of Jail Free” card, something Raylan (nor Boyd, as the end of the episode reveals) wants to see happen. This gives Raylan a good 24 hours to see what he can find in regards to Drew Thompson and make sure Arlo “dies in prison.”
Boyd gets involved in a much different fashion. After Wynn Duffy has the pleasure of sitting beside Agent Barkley as he gets his brains blown out by Nicky Augustine, one of Theo Tonin’s goons, Augustine, tasks Duffy with hunting down the mysterious and highly in demand Drew Thompson. This is a job that Duffy pushes off onto Boyd, under the condition that Duffy splits his drug business with him. I personally think Wynn is playing all the angles here. He’s a human cockroach and will most likely outlive everyone.
Other notable moments and quotes
- “What precipitated this change in your weather vane?” Quote of the week again goes to Mr. Boyd Crowder.
- Natalie Zea’s extremely brief return as Winona was a nice way to acknowledge that this baby is really happening and that Raylan, as much as I love him, is going to be a terrible father.
- Wynn Duffy might just be the most unflappable man on the planet.
- “Not a problem.”
- Wynn Duffy’s trailer should be considered its own character.
- Mike O’Malley, of Nickelodeon GUTS fame, made for one hell of a Dixie Mafia goon.
- Almost as good as Raylan and Boyd coming together was another meeting between Boyd and Wynn Duffy. Those two talking is going to give ol’ Johnny Crowder a heart attack.
- The playful hilarity of Raylan and Tim’s back and forth joking about Tim’s Young Adult reading habits was superbly undercut by Tim’s tragic line about being ‘too young to blow heads off the Taliban”. It gave Raylan some serious foot-in-mouth disease, for sure.
- Constable Bob was perfectly used in this episode. In a few brief moments he talked about teenage blowjobs and offered Raylan his “go bag”. Soon, Bob. Soon.
- HILL PEOPLE!
- “I don’t much like your plan, Raylan!”
- Colton is in a state of disarray that is making him sloppy and only serving to dig him an even deeper grave than he already has coming.
- That said, he did seem to have a great moment with Tim. Both former military now back home on opposite sides of the law.
- Only Boyd Crowder could make talking about texting a smiley face sound so menacing.
- Raylan telling Colton he’d “need a saw” was a nice bit of subtle foreshadowing.
- Sheriff Shelby ends up being the one that got Ellie May. As much as I like him, I have a feeling that doing so is not going to end well for him.
- “Well, My Goodness!” Best response to finding a severed foot ever. Good job, Raylan.
Overall, ‘Kin’ got the show to a wonderful spot. We now have the show’s two leads hunting for the same man, both with their own reasons to find him. This definitely ups the stakes for both Raylan and Boyd to ensure that they are the one that finds Drew Thompson first. No matter which one ends up at that proverbial victory line, we the viewers are assuredly the winners. Justified: Season 4 just got real.
– Matt Hardeman
